Lowering: All Early Independent Suspension Cars

Posted by
Talking Rods
on August 23, 2014

This article is for some 1934 through
1956 Plymouth and Dodge cars, along with most 1939 through 1960s Chevy
cars. Plus, this will also work for many other early cars and light PU
trucks from the 40s through the 60s that have A-Arm, Coil Springs on the
front suspension.

Most early IFS (Independent Front Suspension)
cars used KingPins (up to 1953 Fords), later model cars have Ball
Joints (1954-up Ford). King Pin style IFS cars used Dropped Spindle
Uprights to lower them. Ball Joint IFS cars usually used Dropped
Spindles to lower them. Most of these new lowering parts are available
through Butch's or Fatman's Fabrications and from several other shops.
They should come with the necessary instructions and hardware needed.
The Fatman's kits usually have a new set of King Pins installed where
required, ready to go. Some are available with the matching Dropped
Steering Arms, which you must use in order to retain the proper steering
geometry for your car. If they are NOT available, then you will need to
Heat and Bend your original arms to match the drop of your spindles. THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT! You cannot get by without this procedure.

Keep in mind, many of the
Dropped Spindles or Uprights reposition the spindle in an area that WILL
NOT ALLOW the drum brakes to be re-installed. Therefore, you will be
required to install Disc Brakes in place of the drums. This is a plus,
in the end, with safer brakes being used.

Another way to lower these
type suspension systems is to install a set of Shortened Coil Springs,
if they are made for your vehicle. There are a couple sources for these
(check Hemmings Motor News Publication). It is just a matter of removing
your original coils and replacing them with the new, shorter ones.
These are usually available 1", 2" or 3" drop, with the 2" normally
used.

A Couple of Alternatives NOT Recommended:
Some of us old-time HotRodders have heated or cut the stock coils to
get a lower stance. The main problem with these techniques is the choppy
or stiff ride that ensues. When you heat the coil, you change the
tension and when you cut it shorter, it does the same thing. While this
will drop the front about 2" or so, I never recommend these types of
lowering anymore, from my own experience. Keep in mind, you will always
need to have your car re-aligned by a competent shop when you are
finished. This is something that MUST be done for a good driving and
handling car.

Tech Tips: The
Front Shock is also very important. If the front suspension is working
properly, you will need to dampen it. If you have an IFS that uses those
early Delco Type Upper A-Arms with the built-in shock, you can send
them off to some shops to be rebuilt, and they will work fine. Cars that
use these types are early MOPAR and many early GM cars. Again, Hemmings
is the place to find these type services.

Some of the Fatman's kits
come with an alternative shock and/or shock mounting kit. 1949-up Fords
and Mercs usually have a Gas Charged Shock that you can change-over to.
Check with Butch's or other shops for these replacements.

Most of these older IFS
systems we work with actually work very well on today's highways.
Especially the 34/56 MOPAR IFS, which are a very good suspension system.
I built Carol a 1934 Ply Model PE LWB Dlx Sedan back in the day. This
is one of those Delco Upper Shock IFS that I talked about earlier. I
designed and installed MOPAR Disc brakes for it, installed a lowering
spacer kit in the lower A-Arm to lower it 2". Rebuilt those upper stock
shocks and installed Vega Cross Steering on it. In the next few years,
we drove it from Dayton, Ohio to St. Paul Nats, the Oklahoma Nats and
the Tampa, FL Nats, all with a custom 20' trailer behind it carrying a
display chassis and parts. She really drove GREAT! Shouldn't have sold
it, we miss that one.

But these suspensions may
need to be rebuilt, in which case, most parts/kits are available. Kantor
Auto Parts comes to mind, also check Hemmings for many other parts
suppliers.